BJP Goes Into A Huddle Ahead Of Stormy Monsoon Session

20/07/2015 8:01 AM IST
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Updated
15/07/2016 8:25 AM IST

Press Trust Of India

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Traffic flows in front of Indian Parliament House on the first day of monsoon session in New Delhi, India, Monday, Aug. 1, 2011. The Parliament has shut down just hours after opening its new session Monday as opposition lawmakers caused a commotion shouting angry anti-corruption slogans. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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NEW DELHI -- Senior BJP leaders held a series of meetings over the weekend with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strategize against an inevitable Opposition attack over several issues that have rocked the ruling party recently, ahead of the monsoon session in Parliament beginning on Tuesday.

The PM met party leaders and government ministers at his official residence. The meeting with Prime Minister came after party president Amit Shah held meetings with Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj, Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Piyush Goyal and party spokespersons.

Bracing for the onslaught in Parliament, the party and government have decided to aggressively counter the attack on its leaders like Swaraj, Raje and Chouhan and rake up controversies that involved some Congress leaders.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, mired in the multi-crore Vyapam scam, met BJP chief Amit Shah last evening. Chouhan has briefed his party president on various matters related to the scam and put up his stand in the matter.

Chouhan and Shah are understood to have discussed ways to counter the Opposition, which is also seeking the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's resignation over his alleged involvement in the scam, they said.

The meeting, which was also attended by BJP general secretaries Kailash Vijaywargiya and Ram Lal, began about 11 pm and ended within an hour, the sources said. Chouhan is also understood to have shared the progress of the investigation being done by Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force in the scam, they said.

Congress chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia has already said that the issue of Vyapam scam will be raised during Parliament session and accused the Madhya Pradesh government of "inaction" in probing the massive scandal, which allegedly has claimed the lives of many accused and witnesses. CBI has registered at least 12 cases so far, following Supreme Court's direction, to probe the scam.

Massive irregularities in various professional examinations and government job tests conducted by Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board or 'Vyapam' have been unearthed. The first case in the scam was registered by the state police on July 7, 2013, at Rajendra Nagar police station in Indore.

The scam allegedly involves several state government officials, former ministers and politicians, mainly belonging to the state's ruling BJP, police officials said. At least, 55 cases have been registered by the state police and 2,000 accused have been arrested, they said. Opposition Congress has alleged at least 49 people associated with the scam have so far died under "mysterious" circumstances.

The Congress has asked Modi to remove Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan if he was interested in running the monsoon session of parliament smoothly.

Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said the running of the Parliament and passage of important bills during the monsoon session will be "more easy" if the BJP takes action against these leaders while it will also help BJP in "correcting" its image which has taken a hit due to the scams.

"The minimum action is removal all those, particularly the three, who are involved in Lalitgate, including Rajasthan chief Minister, other MP and Union Minister and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and two ministers of Maharasthra," Azad told reporters when asked what is the minimum action by the Prime Minister which will satisfy his party.

He expressed hope that the way the top leadership of BJP has summoned chief ministers of both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, resignation will be sought from the leaders.

"I am hopeful that when the Parliament session starts day after, Prime Minister will start by saying that those involved or those on whom charges have been levelled in Lalitgate as well as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister under whose leadership dozens of witnesses have been killed and thousands have got degrees in such a manner, he (PM) will announce their resignation," he said.

Noting that the running of the Parliament is not upto the opposition, Azad said that Congress, which is a responsible party believes that laws which are beneficial for people should be passed..

"If the BJP takes action in the one or two days, in my opinion running of the Parliament will be more easy and passing of bills will be more easy. It will also be an opportunity for correction for both BJP's leadership and its image which has been dented in their 15 month rule," he said.

Azad said that it was upto Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decide whether the monsoon session of the Parliament will run or not.